Mamekam Learning - Startup Stories

  A Spark in the Traffic In the relentless chaos of Bangalore’s rush hour, three young men Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR found themselves stuck, not just in traffic, but in the grind of urban commuting. Each day, they witnessed millions of Indians losing precious hours to gridlock. This wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was a problem begging for a solution. Early Days: TheKarrier and a Pivotal Pivot Their entrepreneurial journey began in 2015, not as a ride-hailing service, but as a B2B logistics provider called “theKarrier.” The idea was to solve last-mile delivery for businesses. But as they navigated the logistics landscape, the founders realized the potential for something bigger. They saw that the true pain point was not just for businesses, but for everyday people battling city congestion. The Birth of Rapido Inspired by the agility of two-wheelers weaving through traffic, the trio envisioned a platform that would connect commuters with bike own...

A Dream Reborn from the Ashes of Dot-Com In the late 1990s, five ambitious entrepreneurs Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh, V.S. Sudhakar, V.S. Ramesh, and Abhinay Choudhari ventured into uncharted territory with Fabmart.com, one of India’s earliest e-commerce experiments. They sold books, toys, and even groceries online, but the timing was premature. Internet penetration was low, payment gateways were unreliable, and dial-up connections made shopping painfully slow. The world simply wasn’t ready. Fabmart eventually pivoted into a brick-and-mortar chain and was sold off, but the experience left the founders with invaluable lessons in supply chain management and customer service.. For a while, it seemed their e-commerce dreams were shelved. A Second Chance in a Changed India By 2011, India had transformed. Smartphones were everywhere, internet access was surging, and urban consumers were warming up to the idea of online shopping. Yet, one daily essential remained stubbornly offline: gr...

  In the bustling city of Bengaluru, 2010 marked the birth of a revolution in India’s financial markets. Two brothers, Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, set out to disrupt a centuries-old industry, armed not with venture capital, but with grit, vision, and firsthand experience of the market’s flaws. The Seeds of Ambition Nithin Kamath’s journey began at 17, trading stocks while juggling college and a night job at a call center. His early years were a rollercoaster he made and lost fortunes, weathered market crashes, and learned the hard truths of India’s brokerage system: high fees, opaque processes, and a landscape stacked against small investors.Nikhil, the younger brother, was equally unconventional. He dropped out of school at 16, started trading, and managed funds for friends and colleagues from a young age. A Vision Born from Frustration For years, Nithin worked as a sub-broker, even managing large accounts at Reliance Money. But the more he succeeded, the more he saw how tr...